An analysis of the effects of culture on the success of international agricultural non-governmental organizations in Kenya

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Despite the world becoming a global village, research shows that organizational strategies. structures and technologies may be alike but there are numerous differences among people within organizations in different cultures. Failure rates for overseas assignments average 45 percent and this is largely attributed to lack of cultural adaptation! cross cultural training. This study therefore sought to analyze the effects of culture on the success of International Agricultural NGOs operating in Kenya with specific objectives being to find out what elements of culture affect the success of International Agricultural Non-Governmental Organizations and number two, to find out how International Agricultural Non-Governmental Organizations respond to various elements of culture.
A cross-sectional research design was used with the population of interest being all those NGOs dealing with Agriculture and are international in nature. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire that was designed so as to address all the research questions and this questionnaire was then distributed to the targeted population through hand delivery or via email. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics with the specific statistical measures used being the mean. average and cumulative frequencies. The data was been presented in graphs, tables. charts accompanied by narrations.
From the findings, it was noted that the INGOs to a moderate extent have had to review various issues to accommodate the various elements of culture and that these INGOs employ different cultural orientation strategies to a moderate extent to ensure that their activities are successful. Overall, the results show that the INGOs in Kenya have understood and interpreted the meaning of culture among members and hence do not pose any major challenge to their operations. Given the fact that these organizations are international they have tended to share their experiences from different countries. It was also noted that most of the Organizations also engage staff from Kenya thus minimal challenges of culture occurring.
The conclusion of this research is that in overall it can be observed that the moos in Kenya have to a moderate and little extent been affected by the elements of culture. Despite the little impact, the organizations seem to have adopted various cultural orientation strategies. The major limitations of the study were that it only focused in INOOs that are in the agricultural sector. And the findings may not entirely be applicable to all the INGOs that are involved in other sectors. Secondly, the study also focused on staff who responded on behalf of the INGOs whose views might not necessarily represent the individual cultural challenges that other staff in such organizations have faced. This study recommends further research on other INGOs in other sectors and also targeting individual staff in such organizations to have their personal experiences.